Alining device for printing-presses.



J. E. BELL. ALINING DEVICE FOR PRINTING PRBSSES. APPLICATION FILED MAR.30, 1912.

1 70,764, Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. B. BELL.

ALINING DEVICE FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

' APPLICATION FILED mumo, 1912.

1 70,764, Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

2 SHEETSSHBET 2.

JAMES E. BELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ALINING DEVICE FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 19,1913.

Application filed March 30, 1912. Serial No. 687,551.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES E. BELL, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AliningDevices for Printing-Presses; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the numbers of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

A large amount of waste and loss has heretofore resulted from imperfectregistering in two or more color printing of platen presses. IVhere thematerial must be inserted in the press more than once, the slightestvariation in the positioning of the sheets results in defective work,inasmuch as the impression fails to properly register. Various devicesand expedients have been tried to obviate this difficulty, butheretofore such devices have proven unsatisfactory because inefiicientor because so complicated that the same readily got out of order, andoccasioned additional loss from poor printing rather than decreasingsuch loss. But exceedingly small space is available in which to apply orinsert the adjusting means without danger of injury to the same, orinjury to the press, and this, no doubt, has also been one of thereasons why such a device has not heretofore been devised or come intouse.

It is an object of the invention to afford a mechanical device, adaptedto occupy exceedingly small space, and adapted to me chanically adjustthe sheet to be printed into exact position for the impression.

It is also an object of the invention to afford a mechanically operateddevice, adapted for minute and exceedingly accurate adjustment, andoperated from the moving parts of the press to accurately adjust allsheets fed to the press to exactly the same position for printing,thereby 0bviating the overlapping of the printing occasioned byimperfect registering.

It is an object of the invention to afford a construction whereby themechanism for operating the grippers acts also to operate mechanicalmeans for adjusting the sheet to be printed to exact register.

It is an important object of the invention to afford means formechanically adjusting the sheets into register at the time the grippersare disengaged therefrom, and to afford means for accurately adjustingthe same to afford a coarse or rough adjustment and a more accurate orfiner adjustment for the work.

The invention (in its preferred form) is illustrated in the drawings andhereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view of the platen for a platenpress, and illustrating the application thereto of a device embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is an enlarged,fragmentary top plan view of a device embodying my invention, showingthe platen and the actuating rod broken away. Fig. 4

is a front elevation of the same, with the platen broken away and insection. Fig. 5 is a section on line 55 of Fig. 3, with parts omitted.Fig. 6 is a section on line 66 of Fig. 3, with parts omitted. Fig. 7 isa top plan view of the adjusting and actuating arm. Fig. 8 is afragmentary detail section of the eccentric connection between therocker arm and the connecting rod.

As shown in the drawings: 1, indicates the platen; 2, the tympan sheetssecured thereon, having stops or gage strips 3, secured thereon insuitable position to limit the inner feed of the sheet or card A, to beprinted.

4, indicates the grippers adjustably secured upon the rocker shaft 5, inthe usual or any suitable manner.

Removably secured to one end of the platen near the middle thereof bymeans of screws or bolts 6, extending through the flange 7, is a plateor bracket 8, whlch extends horizontally outward from the platen and isprovided with a straight, flat, bot-- tomed groove therein extending forthe entire length thereof at right angles with the end of the platen andwith its bottom flush with the upper face thereof. As shown in Fig. 6,and in dotted lines in Fig. 3, a slot B, is provided through said platein the bottom of said groove and extending centrally and longitudinallythereof, and near the front or platen end of the groove. Journaled onsaid plate 8, by means of a bolt 9, which extends through the apexthereof, is a rocker plate 10, the sides of which extend from the apexsubstantially at a right angle with each other, the one toward said slotand the other toward the outer end of said plate 8, as shown in Fig.Slidably engaged in said groiiive in. said plate and extending acrossthe end of the platen, is a thin gag-e bar 11, the inner end 12, ofwhich is turned upwardly at a right angle, as shown in 1, and 1, to bearagainst the end of the sheet to be adjusted. The inner end of said gagebar 11, lies in a suitable slot cut therefor in the tympan, as shown inFig. 1. The outer end of said gage bar is graduated, as illustrated inFigs. 1 and 3, by closely arranged transverse graduaticns 11 inaccordance with the printers scale and marked upon said plate 8, at oneside the slot is a mark or indicator 13, whereby the adjustment of saidgage bar in wardly or outwardly on the platen may be read in theprinters scale. Said gage bar is provided at said graduated portion 11thereof, with apertures slotted transversely the gage bar and arrangedconveniently a standard distance apart on said printers scale.

Journaled on the same screw or bolt 9, whereby the rocker plate 10, isengaged in place, is a bent lever, one arm 1 1, of which extendstransversely the gage bar, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and is provided onits under side above said gage bar with a downwardly directed stud 15,provided with a central, downwardly directed projection or pin 16,adapted to project through any of the slots in said gage bar whenadjusted. The other end 17, of said bent lever, is directedsubstantially at a right angle therefrom and is provided near itsextremity with a transverse slot C, through which (and threaded into therocker plate, as shown in Fig. 5) extends a set screw 18, provided witha milled head 19, adapted for manual engagement. Secured on the end ofthe rocker shaft 5, by means of a screw or bolt 20, which extendsaxially therethrough, and into the shaft. is a circular plate or disk21, which is held in rigid adjusted engagement on said stud shaft bymeans of a pin 22, which extends therethrough beneath the head. of saidbolt 20, and is inserted into a suitable indentation or seat therefor inthe end of the shaft, as shown in Fig. 8. A cap screw 23, is engaged insaid disk or plate 21, eccentrically thereof, and journaled thereon is aconnectii'ig rod 24, the other end of which is engaged on the extendedend of the rock plate by means of a screw or bolt 25, which extendstherethrough and into said plate, the aperture in said connecting rodtherefor being slightly reamed out on the upper and lower sides thereofto afford a somewhat loose fit to prevent the cramping of said end ofthe connecting rod on said screw or bolt because of the eccentricity ofthe connection of the opposite end thereof with said disk 21.

The operation is as follows: As the sheetis adjusted inwardly toposition, it is also preferably adjusted in close relation with theupturned or angular end 12, of the gage bar, and the gage bar issuitably adjusted to position the sheet or card to be printed exactly asdesired upon the tympan. This adjustment may be effected in three waysfirst, when first attaching the device to the machine, the disk 21., isproperly positioned upon the end of the rock shaft and rigidly engagedin place by means of the pin 22, and bolt 20, so that the pin or screw28, (upon which the connecting rod 2%, is journaled) shall be suitablypositioned that the gage bar will be retracted when the grippers andplaten are most widely separated, so that the gage bar will be projectedtransversely the platen to the limit of its movement just at the momentthat the grippers again engage the sheet. The adjustment of the gage barto the work is effected, first, by adjusting the pin 16, on the underside of the lever arm 14, into the proper slot into said gage bar toafford approximately the desired degree of adjustment, and if furtheradjustment be required, this may be accomplished by releasing the setscrew 19, and adjusting said lever on the rocker plate to afford exactlythe desired throw. Having once effected the desired adjustment, the setscrew is again set up tight, and the machine may be started inoperation. The sheets are fed to the press as usual, except that thesame are adjusted sufliciently near the end of the gage bar as tonecessitate some slight movement thereof to bring the same intoregister. In consequence, the normal operation of the machine actsthrough the mechanism before described, to mechanically and accuratelyadjust the sheets into exact register, thus obviating the loss of timeand material occasioned by the imperfect print frequently resultingheretofore.

Of course, I am aware that numerous details of construction andoperation may be varied. I have shown and described but a preferredconstruction of a device embodying my invention. I therefore do notpurpose limiting the patent to be granted on this application otherwisethen necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the class described a bracket adapted for engagementto the platen, a bell crank having a slot therein and mounted on saidbracket, a slidable gage actuated thereby, a plate pivoted adjacent saidbell crank, an adjusting screw threaded therein and engaging through theslot in said bell crank, and a rod connected to said. plate andoscillated to cause reciprocation of the slidable gage.

2. In a device of the class described the platen and the rock bartherefor, a bracket attached to the platen, a bell crank pivotedthereon, a plate pivoted beneath the same,

adjustable connection between said crank and plate, a gage bar engagedby said crank and a connect-ing rod connected between said rock bar andsaid plate to cause actuation of the bell crank and gage rod.

3. A sheet adjusting device for platen presses embracing a bracketcentrally attached to the end of the platen, a transversely slotted gagebar slidable thereon and adapted to engage a sheet to shift the samelaterally, a connecting rod operatively connected for operation by thepress mechanism, a bell crank, a projection on said bell crank adaptedto be engaged in any one of said transverse slots to actuate the gagebar and to vary the inward movement thereof, and at the other endadjustably connected. with the connecting rod to afford a fineradjustment for the gage bar.

4:. The combination with the platen of a platen press and its rock bar,of a connecting rod bracket secured centrally to the end of the platen,a graduated gage bar slidable on said bracket and transversely theplaten, and having apertures therein at graduated distances apart, abell crank fulcrumed on the bracket, a projection on one end thereofadapted to engage in any of the apertures in the gage bar to actuatesaid bar, and a connecting rod eccentrically engaged on the rock bar atone end and adjustably connected with the other arm of the bell crank atthe other to vary the adjustment of the gage bar relatively the platen.

5. The combination with the platen and the rock bar of a platen press,of a bracket centrally secured on the end of the platen to projecthorizontally therefrom, and having a channel in the face thereof, thebottom of which is flush with the face of the platen, a gage bargraduated with the printers scale slidable in said channel transverselythe platen, a mark or pointer on the bracket adjacent said scale, anupturned right-angled end on the inner end of the gage bar adapted toengage the paper if shifted laterally, a connecting rod engaging at oneend the rock bar, and a bell crank fulcrumed on the bracket and at oneend adjustably connected with the connecting rod and at the otheradjustably connected with the gage bar to afford a double adjustment ofsaid bar.

6. In a platen printing press the combination with the platen, thegrippers and the rock bar, of mechanism for adjusting later ally thesheets to be printed embracing a graduated gage bar extendingtransversely the end of the platen, a connecting rod eccentricallyjournaled on the rock bar, and means connecting said connecting rod withthe gage bar to afford a double adjustment of the latter to vary theadjustment of the sheet thereby.

7. In a device of the class described a bracket having a flat bottomedchannel in the face thereof, and a mark or pointer arranged transverselythe same at the edge thereof, a gage bar graduated wit-h the printersscale and provided with transversely slotted apertures arranged uniformdistances apart, a connecting rod, means fulcrumed on the bracket andaffording connection for the connecting rod, and a bell crank pivotallyengaged on said means and at one end adapted for engagement in any ofthe apertures in the gage bar and having a transverse slot in the other,adapted to receive a set screw therethrough for engagement'in saidconnecting means, thereby affording a double adjustment of the throw ofthe gage bar on the platen.

8. The combination with the platen of a platen press and its rock bar,of a bracket secured to the platen, a graduated gage bar slidable onsaid bracket and transversely the platen, and having apertures thereinat graduated distances apart, a bell crank, means on one end thereofadapted to engage in any of the apertures in the gage bar to actuate thesame, and a connecting rod affording connection between said rock barand the bell crank.

9. The combination with the platen and the rock bar of a platen press,of a bracket secured on the platen to project therefrom, a slidable gagebar graduated with the printers scale, a mark or pointer on the bracketadjacent said scale, an upturned end on the inner end of the gage baradapted to engage the paper if shifted laterally, a connecting rodengaged at one end the rock bar, and a bell crank having one endadjustably connected with the connecting rod and at the other adjustably connected with the gage bar.

10. In a device of the class described a bracket, a mark or pointerthereon, a gage bar graduated with the printers scale, and provided withslotted apertures arranged uniform distances apart, a connecting rod,actuating means connected to one end there of,, movable means connectedto the other end of the connecting rod, and a bell crank pivotallyengaged on said movable means and at one end adapted for engagement inany of the apertures in the gage bar and having a transverse slot in theother, adapted to receive a set screw therethrough for engagement insaid movable means.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES E. BELL. Witnesses:

CHARLES W. HILLS, J r., GEORGE E. MOORE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

